Since the marriage rate among Japan's shrinking population is falling and with many of the country's remaining lovebirds heading for Hawaii or Australia's Gold Coast, Atami had to do something. It is trying to attract single men—and their handheld devices.

In the first month of the city's promotional campaign launched July 10, more than 1,500 male fans of the Japanese dating-simulation game LovePlus+ have flocked to Atami for a romantic date with their videogame character girlfriends.

The men are real. The girls are cartoon characters on a screen. The trips are actual, can be expensive and aim to re-create the virtual weekend outing featured in the game, a product of Konami Corp. played on Nintendo Co.'s DS videogame system.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • Men • Women • * International News & Commentary • Asia • Japan

1. evan miller wrote: Really creepy.  These folks need to get a life.  For many, social media and gaming have supplanted real life with a virtual life.  It can be crippling. September 1, 9:42 am | [comment link]

2. Br. Michael wrote: This is real sad. September 1, 10:35 am | [comment link]

3. MargaretG wrote: Br Michael - you captured my reaction exactly. I further worry that some of the negative effects of pornography - unrealistic expectations of what women really are like - is likely to be as relevant here. It might not only be sad, but destructive of real relationships. September 1, 5:10 pm | [comment link]

4. Larry Morse wrote: Well, I’ll say it again: We are substituting the distant and secondaryh for the near and primary. And when we do that, we lose touch with reality at many levels, until life itself fails to become real unless it is virtual. Larry September 1, 7:57 pm | [comment link]

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